Circuit breakers are generally used in residential applications to provide circuit protection for low voltage distribution systems. Electrical circuits or electrical systems are protected by the circuit breakers from electrical overcurrent conditions, such as overload conditions as well as low and high level short circuit or fault current conditions.
Many current circuit breakers include electronic components that are generally mounted on one or more rigid printed circuit boards (also referred to as rigid circuit boards). The rigid circuit boards have a main surface that provides structural support for the electronic components and electrical connections, such as jumper wires and solder connections. The connections are useful in transmitting electrical signals from one rigid circuit board to another rigid circuit board and/or between a rigid circuit board and other electrical components. Because the main surface of the rigid circuit boards is shared by, both, the electronic components and the connections, space considerations on the main surface is critical for proper design and placement of the electronic components.
Thus, one problem associated with this type of rigid circuit boards is that the space available for electronic components can be drastically reduced by the space requirements of the connections. Another problem associated with the connections is that they require hand assembly during electronic module assembly. For example, jumper wires and solder connections can increase manufacturing time and manufacturing costs. Also, jumper wires and solder connections can also reduce the reliability of the board connections (e.g., the greater the number of connections the more likely that a connection may be faulty).
Yet another problem associated with connections is that they are generally individually routed between rigid circuit boards. Assembly of individually routed connections is likely to increase manufacturing time and cost, and is also likely to result in an uncontrolled (and disorganized) routing location. This type of uncontrolled routing location is likely to create problems, for example, during final assembly of the circuit breaker or when components may require replacement.